It goes without saying that some people learn from their mistakes… then others never learn… while other people know what’s right but do wrong anyway.
Cal Poly’s administration has a real problem. Sometimes one has to hit the mule in the forehead with a two by four just to get it’s attention. Maybe this is again one of those times.
Historically, Cal Poly has had trouble with freedom of speech issues and although this is not news to anyone following the academic community in America… it just seems to be happening all the time at Cal Poly.
Today, FIRE ( the organization supporting Academic Freedom in America) came out with a huge commentary on Cal Poly San Luis Obispo…. and it wasn’t good. Here’s a small excerpt:
“Unfortunately, Cal Poly is at it again. This time, the victims are the students in the improvisational comedy troupe Smile and Nod, who posted a constitutionally protected image on flyers advertising their upcoming comedy show….According an October 25 article Mustang Daily, theatre department officials began removing the flyers because the flyers could be “construed as racist.” Smile and Nod was required to remove remaining flyers, “send a formal apology to all students via the Mustang Daily, and participate in a sensitivity meeting with faculty and staff from the theatre department and the ethnic studies department.””
We’ve all been here before… this sounds like exactly the same sort of thing that landed them in Federal Court the last time… and Cal Poly lost and was savaged in the National Press.
It is inappropriate for our universities to abridge the rights we have in this country simply because they do not agree with what is being said. No one has a right to not be offended. The best action is to counter free speech that you disagree… with free speech of your own.
Roger Freberg